This article appeared in the October 2010 issue of Louisville Magazine. To subscribe, please visit loumag.com.

The word “neighborhood” has always been an elastic term, and
especially so in a city that until seven years ago was a whole county.
It can mean, to some, a single street, or a group of streets whose homes
were built about the same time, or a section of the city drawn around a
central focal point, or a suburban subdivision, or section of a
subdivision, or even a fifth- or sixth-class city inside the big city.
Throughout October we will feature 16 of Louisville’s neighborhoods —
not necessary the “goes without saying” selections that come up time and
again, but pieces of real estate and social fabric inclusively chosen
for their beauty, value, character, amenities and, well, neighborliness.
To follow along with this series, please visit the Neighborly 'Hoods section.

If your ideal is to find an attractive, affordable home outside the Watterson where you can start a family near a recommended elementary school and enjoy the organized amenities (pool, tennis court, community center) of subdivision living — but without the starchy look and feel of so many hyper-secure, over-landscaped suburban neighborhoods — the tiny sixth-class city of Brownsboro Farm should be right up your alley. The 238 homeowners have access to 11 acres of parkland laced with walking paths and small creeks, and the kids can walk (daily exercise!) through neighborhood streets (including the streets of adjacent Barbourmeade) to reach Norton Elementary School about a half-mile away.

Situated off KY22 a little more than a mile west of the Summit Shopping Center and about twice that distance east of Brownsboro Manor, the former family farm, developed in the 1960s, organizes several annual and special events for residents — a Memorial Day parade, Fourth of July festivities, a Labor Day concert, Halloween pumpkin-carving, community cookouts and shrimp boils, teen parties. As a relatively mature suburban community, Brownsboro Farm also provides scores of nice-sized shade trees, including maples, beeches, black walnuts and buckeyes.